Nikolay Denkov Denkov

Public record

Compiled from publications and official records as of 18.10.2026. Every statement links to its source; claims made by others are marked as such, with who makes them. Quotations in English are our translation.

Russia

• Russia. In April 2024 Nikolay Denkov told the Financial Times: "A large part of Russian influence in the past, for example in the energy sector, came through corruption" (our translation). According to RFE/RL he refers to energy deals of earlier governments that benefited Gazprom, including Turkish Stream, which "should be investigated"; Borisov says the pipeline was not to the detriment of Bulgarian interests. — RFE/RL Bulgarian Service, 10.04.2024
• The excise. In October 2023 Prime Minister Denkov said of the 20 leva/MWh excise on imports and transit of Russian gas: "In fact the fee we introduced creates the possibility of real competition between liquefied natural gas from different sources and the gas coming from Russia" (our translation). Serbia and Hungary objected to the fee. — Mediapool, 16.10.2023
• Lukoil: taxes. On 25 October 2023 Prime Minister Denkov said: "I have said clearly that Lukoil have committed to pay by the end of the year all taxes due under our legislation and not to try to defer them" (our translation). According to RFE/RL, GERB and DPS threatened to end the derogation for processing Russian oil if the company did not pay what it owed; Lukoil Neftochim Burgas stated that it pays all taxes required by law on time. — RFE/RL Bulgarian Service, 25.10.2023
• Lukoil: the sale. On 24 July 2023 Prime Minister Denkov said: "If they decide to sell Lukoil, that is their right", and that pushing the company out or "repressive measures" are "not at all in the plans of this government" (our translation). He was responding to comments by Vladislav Panev, MP for We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria, who after the termination of the Rosenets concession spoke of removing Lukoil from the Bulgarian market as a follow-up decision. — Mediapool, 24.07.2023
• The meetings. In answer to a parliamentary question from Delyan Peevski, chair of the DPS parliamentary group, Denkov reported that between July and September 2023 he held three meetings with Lukoil representatives at the Council of Ministers, on the Burgas refinery's switch to non-Russian crude, and that no meetings with the Russian state were held, "nor were any telephone conversations held with the administration of Vladimir Putin or with the president of the Russian Federation himself" (our translation). — Sega, 02.01.2024
• Ukraine. According to RFE/RL, in June 2023 "the government of Nikolay Denkov approved the sending of military-technical aid to Ukraine" (our translation); on 22 November parliament ratified an agreement donating 100 armoured personnel carriers, and in its 8 December article the outlet reports that the majority overrode President Rumen Radev's veto on the decision to provide them. — RFE/RL Bulgarian Service, 08.12.2023

Corruption and scandals

• TU-Sofia. In February 2022, as education minister, Denkov referred financial irregularities at the Technical University – Sofia, where an internal ministry audit found bonuses of nearly 3.5 million leva, to the anti-corruption commission (KPKONPI). According to Ofnews he wrote that rector Prof. Ivan Kralov himself appears in the lists of those to receive cash awards, "from which it follows that he exercised powers in his private interest" (our translation). KPKONPI opened a check for conflict of interest. — Mediapool, 15.02.2022
• The ruling. On 19 February 2025 the Supreme Administrative Court established a conflict of interest for the TU-Sofia rector Prof. Ivan Kralov; the decision is final. According to Sega, KPKONPI had found it in October 2022 after Denkov's referral and imposed a fine of 30,000 leva. — Sega, 20.02.2025